As recorded for Safed Ban-Methi
Melilotus albus
Safed Ban-Methi / White Sweet Clover सफ़ेद बन मेथी
Hindi name · See all regional names ↓
Also known as White Melilot
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan & more
- Flowering
- January-April
Safed Ban-Methi in regional languages
Find the name you know, then compare it with the botanical profile. Columns list recorded aliases; they are not paired translations. A Latin spelling appears only when it is present in the source record.
| Language | Regional script | Recorded Latin spelling |
|---|---|---|
| Hindi | सफ़ेद बन मेथी | Khandai, Safed Ban-methi |
| Marathi | पांढरी रानमेथी | Ran Methi |
See the original recorded names
- Hindi
- Khandai, सफ़ेद बन मेथी Safed Ban-methi
- Marathi
- पांढरी रानमेथी Ran Methi
Ecology & growing context
- Native status · Kew WCVP
- WCVP native range includes Assam, India, West Himalaya Kew dataset ↗
Kew WCVP dataset; accepted-name match. Dataset matching is separate from an individual regional review. Recorded worldwide native range: Europe to China, N. Africa to Myanmar, Ethiopia to S. Africa.
- Recorded habitat
- Weed of cultivated fields
- Explore nearby plants
- Maharashtra →Jammu & Kashmir →Rajasthan →
Occurrence records show where a plant has been recorded; they do not establish that it is native there. Compare local habitat and growing conditions when choosing plants for a garden.
How to identify Safed Ban-Methi
Identify Safed Ban-Methi by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a undershrub habit.
- Confirm leaf arrangement: Alternate.
- Confirm leaf type: Trifoliate.
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Raceme.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: January-April.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Assam and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Melilotus albus
- Genus
- Melilotus
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Weed of cultivated fields
- Habitat type
- Cultivated, Wasteland
- Distribution
- Tropical Asia, Africa, Europe, Caribbean islands, Pacific Islands, Introduced in Northern Central America
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- January-April
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf arrangement
- AlternaterecordedOne leaf per node, arranged in a spiral or zigzag up the stem.“The 1/2 - 2 inch long alternate leaves are trifoliate and sparsely distributed along the stem and alternate in arrangement.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf type
- TrifoliaterecordedA compound leaf made of exactly three leaflets.“The 1/2 - 2 inch long alternate leaves are trifoliate and sparsely distributed along the stem and alternate in arrangement.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Safed Ban-Methi itself; the rest are typical of the Fabaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
- Flower arrangement
- RacemerecordedIndividual stalked flowers arranged along a central stem, opening from bottom to top.“The upper stems terminate in narrow racemes of white flowers about 2-6 inches long that have a tendency to hang downward from the central stalk of the raceme.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fruit type
- LegumerecordedA dry pod that splits open along two seams (typical of the pea/bean family).“Melilotus albus is an annual or biennial legume that can reach 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) in height.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Inflorescence
- Raceme
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Safed Ban-Methi itself; the rest are typical of the Fabaceae family — flowering plants only.
About Safed Ban-Methi
White Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus) belongs to the Fabaceae family, where it grows as a low shrub. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and 8 other states. It grows in weed of cultivated fields. Flowering and fruiting run from January to April.
Uses
Locally it is long used in traditional medicine, harvested for fodder and used to hold soil and restore degraded ground. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Fabaceae
Legume/Bean family
Safed Ban-Methi belongs to the Fabaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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